The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) recently announced the opening of 100,000 new appointment slots for passport applications and renewals available between next month and May.

According to DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, new spots will be open every day.

The DFA has been under fire after it was earlier revealed appointments with the government agency, a requirement when applying for a new passport or renewal, were fully booked through March 2018.

Cayetano previously admitted to a backlog of applications, with reports suggesting the amount to be between 400,000 and one million passports.

Meanwhile, 1,200 slots reserved for travel agencies were removed.

DFA employees were earlier accused of intentionally blocking schedules on the online appointments page, after being paid by local travel agencies, who then provide appointments for their customers and charge P4,500 to P5,000 for “passport assistance,” for what should be a free process.

DFA-Bacolod officer-in-charge Carmela Constantino questioned how accusers knew proponents of the scheme were DFA employees.

“DFA employees are required to wear their identification cards,” she insisted./PLL, WDJ